


Cleopatra House

by AirgiodSLV



Series: 28 Lotrips AUs Challenge [21]
Category: The Lord of the Rings RPF
Genre: M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2006-05-09
Updated: 2006-05-09
Packaged: 2019-07-20 12:42:26
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,435
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16137476
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/AirgiodSLV/pseuds/AirgiodSLV
Summary: “Just because it’s intimacy doesn’t mean that it has to be false,” Dom said quietly, half-listening for the sounds of Orlando returning and the jingle of the bell on the front door signaling the arrival of a client. There never seemed to be the right time here, or the right place. Cleopatra House was a series of interrupted, too-short moments, for everyone who wasn’t paying for the privilege of time.





	Cleopatra House

**Author's Note:**

> AU #19, for [](https://salwood.livejournal.com/profile)[salwood](https://salwood.livejournal.com/)

Of all the moderately-small-town brothels in the country, Cleopatra House may not have been the richest or most opulent, but it was certainly one of the coziest. With two eight-hour shifts and a rotating staff of merely eleven, there were enough people to fill the three upstairs bedrooms and rarely more than one left over to handle waiting clients. With no more than a downstairs sitting room, a bathroom, a kitchen they used as a staff room and a rickety staircase, Cleopatra House on a full night was…snug.

“I’m wearing red tonight,” Elijah announced as he walked into the staff room, already dressed in scarlet satin and black leather, his eyeliner smudged at the corners and gel-spiked hair wilting. Dom frowned at him in the mirror, busy with his own application. Orlando hadn’t made it to the line of chairs in front of the mirror yet, a garment bag still slung over his shoulder.

“That’s because you’re the only one who looks good in it,” Orlando said, shaking a handful of black mesh out of the bag and pulling his faded tee-shirt off to toss onto the battered communal table. “I don’t think you’ll find any objections here.”

“Nah, I haven’t even decided,” Dom confirmed, casting his gaze over the sheen of sweat on Elijah’s skin. “How’d you beat us here?”

“Double shift,” Elijah answered tiredly, pulling a chair over and attempting to undo the damage to his hair. “I’ve been here since opening.”

Dom frowned, but Orlando was faster, his attention snagged. “Why?” he asked, cocking his head. “We’re that understaffed?”

“Needed the money,” Elijah replied, shaking his head and unbuttoning the satin shirt. “School doesn’t come cheap.”

“You and your aspirations,” Orlando mocked good-naturedly, giving Elijah’s shoulder a squeeze on the way past. He was always full of energy at the beginning of a shift, and usually remained that way even without benefit of caffeine until the very end. Dom couldn’t imagine how hard he had to crash once he got home in the early hours of each morning.

“Don’t give me that crap, you’re still working swing-shifts at the hospital when they need you,” Elijah shot back, his smile genuine even though his eyes were tired. “The only reason you haven’t left us is because you haven’t passed your qualification yet.”

“Male nurse,” Dom snickered, unable to pass up a chance to rib Orlando about his other job, and earned a swat on the back of his head as a result.

Elijah ran water onto a sponge at the sink and scrubbed the sweat from his skin, looking half-asleep on his feet as he washed and swayed in place. “Early class?” Dom asked sympathetically, head tilted in question.

Elijah caught his eyes and smiled crookedly. “Eight AM calculus lecture,” he confirmed, dropping the sponge back into its tray. His skin glistened, and he made no move to dry off, simply resting against the counter for a few moments while there was no one in the waiting room for them to greet. “Remind me why I’m a computer science major again?”

“Because you’re a genius,” Dom replied with a grin. “And an overachiever at that.”

“Speaking of overachievers,” Orlando broke in, emerging from the bathroom with brown eyeliner bringing out the color of his irises, and his hair combed into glossy curls. “Dom, will you go double with me tonight if that guy from Southie shows up? He usually comes on Tuesdays, and missed last week.”

“Yeah, sure,” Dom agreed absently, trying to remember the client in question. “Is he the one you took two nights ago, weird voice, messy hair?”

“No, God no,” Orlando groaned, fitting slim silver rings onto his fingers. He was going goth tonight, an ankh around his neck and sporting leather trousers that were almost as tight as Elijah’s. “That guy was a total nutter, did I tell you about him? He made me crawl around for almost the full hour pushing a ball with my tongue while he cropped my ass and told me what a filthy whore I was.”

“Jesus, are you shitting me?” Elijah asked, pausing in the middle of pouring a cloudy glass of water. “At least tell me he tipped well.”

Orlando shrugged. “Well enough. Not well enough that I’d do him again. Next time he’s all yours.”

“So who’s the Southie?” Dom asked, attempting to get them back on track before he lost the thread of the conversation. “Do I know him?”

Orlando shrugged. “Maybe not. He always doubles, likes a bit of a show. Elijah and I took him the last few times, but Elijah said he was out this time.” He glanced at Elijah as he said it, but Elijah just shrugged.

“I don’t do false intimacy,” he said flatly, pulling his shirt back on and starting on the buttons. Dom checked the clock and grimaced; they were running close to shift change and he still hadn’t thought about what to wear tonight. “If they want a show, they can rent a porno. My love life isn’t for sale.”

Dom arched his eyebrows, but Orlando just shrugged again. “He asks for lover-stuff; a lot of kissing, whispering endearments, that kind of thing. Never anything kinky, and he watches rather than participates. I figured you and I could have fun. He’ll be heartbroken, though, he loves Elijah. Called us his ‘pretty boys’ last time.”

“Count me in,” Dom said, but he was watching Elijah, brow furrowed curiously.

Elijah caught him looking and made a face. “That’s part of why I’m out,” he said, and Dom nodded grudgingly. Elijah had dropped good clients before this, clients who tipped well and treated him gently, all because they got too close. People sometimes lost sight of the fact that Cleopatra House was a business, but if they did so with Elijah, he would always remind them.

Dom got dressed quickly, in the same outfit he’d worn last night, but no one would notice; they were more concerned with getting his clothes _off_ than with admiring him in them. Orlando pursed his lips and strutted, ‘getting into character’ as he called it, psyching himself up for the night.

Elijah didn’t bother, already eight hours in and probably running on caffeine and adrenaline alone. Dom watched him pour another glass of water and down a couple of pills with it, swallowing the last drops and pouring another.

“Hey,” he said softly when Orlando had retreated to the bathroom for a final make-up check. He stepped behind Elijah, brushed his fingers across Elijah’s shoulder and the nape of his neck. “Is everything okay?”

Elijah leaned back against him, resting his head on Dom’s chest and closing his eyes. “Just tired,” he murmured, not moving away from the caress when Dom gently massaged the bump of his spine above his shirt collar. “I’ll be fine.”

Dom’s head bent, unconsciously leaning in to bring their faces closer together. Elijah’s eyes opened when their lips were only a few inches apart, and he searched Dom’s gaze, soft but with a trace of regret. “Don’t do this,” he murmured, and Dom’s grip tightened slightly before sliding away, acquiescing. “You know how I feel.”

“Just because it’s intimacy doesn’t mean that it has to be false,” Dom said quietly, half-listening for the sounds of Orlando returning and the jingle of the bell on the front door signaling the arrival of a client. There never seemed to be the right time here, or the right place. Cleopatra House was a series of interrupted, too-short moments, for everyone who wasn’t paying for the privilege of time.

“Not here,” Elijah answered, just as soft, and when he lifted his face for a moment Dom’s heart banged in his chest, sure that this was about to become something, but Elijah only sighed and slipped reluctantly away, out of his embrace. Dom turned, not seeing anything in front of him, cursing himself for pushing and Elijah for being so damned careful, especially with his heart.

“Dom,” Elijah said suddenly behind him, and he couldn’t bring himself to move until he felt Elijah’s cool fingers on his jaw, gently but firmly turning his head. Elijah’s eyes were still full of regret, but he quirked a smile, and his thumb slid over the corner of Dom’s mouth, in something that was almost a kiss.

“One day,” he promised, and Dom swallowed, nodded with the heavy knowledge that it would have to be enough.

The door bell jingled, and they broke apart and into motion, heading out to meet the first client in another busy night in Cleopatra House.


End file.
